Went to the camp today

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Got back a short while ago. Devastation is everywhere. The whole state was tore up by this storm. NOW, Jeanne is headed this way.  : : :  I'm gettin sick of this.

  We passed about 30 Utility crews on I-95, going NORTH  >:( >:(  There are still plenty of folks without power. I pulled up to the lead truck and Ed hollered out, You guys going home ???  The driver nodded his head yes and put his hands up ???  WHERE is the LEADERSHIP ????????????  Ed has 1 line down and 1 disconnect box broken on the transformer pole right across from his house. 13 stinkin days and not 1 truck has bothered to fix it. The road has 9 houses on it, and is less than 1 mile from the nightly staging area for the crews in our area.  >:( >:(  Tomorrow, at dawn, he's headed to see who can drive a truck to his place and fix the DanG problem  >:( >:(

  On a worse note, I just been conversing with a Forum member in Ft. Pierce, DonE911, about 30 minutes south of me. Here is part of his message
 
  House is a total loss...  2 walls blown in... house off the foundation on one corner...  all the shingles and tar paper are mia, the eve's are blown away... only found a few pieces of the aluminum.. not sure where it went....

I had to work thru the entire event... 5 days straight with no time off... just getting some time off on a regular basis... at work at the moment though.  We have 2 nice oaks down here at work that I wish I had some way to get them to a mill... its a yard tree but because its a business inside a security fence I'm fairly sure there's no nails .. Wish I would have bought that swing blade.... did you ever finish yours??  

  We all dwell on our problems, until you come across something like this.

[DonE911]

Thanks for posting my story .....

That sux about the power...   we've got alot of crews here from canada that have been bringing the power up faster than our local guys....  what's up with that!!  

Anyway all the mutaul aid that was here took off for the keys and are now re-routed to the panhandle....   we're on our own from here on out.  

Watch out for this Jeanne storm... we're int he cone for that one too >:(

[DanG]

According to the latest daily report, 96% of power has been restored. Most of the out of town support has been diverted to staging areas to clean up behind Ivan. I-10 has been almost clogged with westbound power trucks.  That highway is bumper to bumper with eastbound traffic, now. Folks from the expected impact area are evacuating by the thousands!  People that ran from Frances are still returning from the West, while those from the West are running from Ivan. Now Jeanne is building in the Carribean, giving us something else to watch. I've never seen a seige like this!
I guess I'm the luckiest guy on here.  I've had to prepare for 4 hurricanes in a month, and none of them has hit me. ... so far. :-/

[Fla._Deadheader]

Boy, I sure wouldn't be braggin  :  That 96% may be for the overall state, but, it sure isn't for around here. : :  There are still 28,000 in Indian River County alone, as of this AM. Palm Beach County had over 80,000 this AM still out ???

[DonE911]

96% is probably the folks that got hit by Charley.  St Luice County is still below 80 % as of this morning.  FPL says power shoudl be 100 % restored in St Lucie by 09/19....  I don't see that happening, but you never know...  

[VA-Sawyer]

Dang,
You should have kept quite for a few more days. If IVAN hears you talking like that, he may just decide to head your way. I'm keeping my mouth shut till about Thanksgiving.  ;)
VA-Sawyer
P.S. Jean is making me nervous !

[DanG]

Ain't worried. Ivan only speaks Russian. ;D

The 96% figure came from yesterday's EOC briefing, which is broadcast daily on NPR. It is for the whole state. When you consider that millions of folks were in the dark, that remaining 4% is still a lot. I know just how Ed feels. After H. Kate in '85, power was restored within 1 block of my house within 24 hrs, but I was in the dark for 11 days.  The Fla Forest Svc workshop was my neighbor, and they ran me an extension cord over to run fridge/freezer and a couple of lights. Nice folks!

[OneWithWood]

I don't know what you Florida boys did to deserve this but don't do it again!  

Don,
I sure hope all the folks you helped remember and help you with your situation.  We are thinking about you all.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  ED HAS POWER  ;D ;D ;D ;D  His wife caught 2 guys sittin in a truck yesterday and had them follow her to the downed line. Had it fixed in 1 hour  8) 8)  They were NOT aware of the downed line.  ??? ???  Saw a couple of trucks today from South Dakota. They were probably wanting to get warmed up. : :  :D :D :D :D

[beenthere]

FL_D   (POWER just came back on in Wisconsin!)
Pays to make contact with the crews. Several years ago, after being without power for a week due to an ice storm, neighbor and I on this dead end road knew there was a tree over the line near the end of the road. Figured it might be a long time before the crews would get down that road to find it.  When a crew was near-by, we talked to them to tell them what was the problem, and they said they were exhausted, time to quit after many long hours, their chains were dull and two saws wouldn't cut anymore, and they thought they were being assigned a different area the next day. We convinced them to take a look, offerred our sharp chain saws to use, and provided some hot coffee and refreshments from town. They had our power back on within the hour. They felt good that someone cared what they were doing (duh-who wouldn't care, but then maybe they don't hear it first hand).
(second time I typed this in as a half hour ago the power went out and I lost the first post!  someone intervened? ). Now I have to go get that bleeping microwave reset so it quits beeping at me.  
Wish all well in the storms paths and immediate path. Not fun.

[DonE911]

OnewithWood,

Thank you for your support and kind words.  The people we help will never remember who helped them, but we know that from the start.   I just wish we could get insurance companies or FEMA to help emergency workers first or at least faster.